


The One Where They Don't Know We Know

by ShrapnelChan



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Angst, Comedy, Coming Out, F/F, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Getting Together, Idiots in Love, M/M, Minor Dande | Leon/Nezu | Piers, Multi, Nonbinary Character, Nonbinary Kibana | Raihan, Nonbinary Rurina | Nessa, Raihan and Sonia are just so awkward when they have to act like a proper couple, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Trans Dande | Leon, Trans Male Character, minor Kibana | Raihan/Sonia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 22:14:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29461104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShrapnelChan/pseuds/ShrapnelChan
Summary: Raihan just wants to reconnect with their dad. Nessa just wants to come out to their parents. When the press starts to get wind of Sonia and Nessa's relationship, they come up with a plan to throw the media off their scent. If the media is busy focusing on Sonia and Raihan's "relationship", they're not focusing on outing Nessa, and Raihan and Nessa both get some time to talk to their parents and come out on their own terms. Simple, and easy.They didn't account for the fact that Leon has been head over heels in love with Raihan for years, nor did they think that Piers would go behind their backs to tell Leon.The "simple and easy fake dating plan" gets thrown out the window very quickly.
Relationships: Dande | Leon/Kibana | Raihan, Rurina | Nessa/Sonia
Comments: 8
Kudos: 22





	The One Where They Don't Know We Know

**Author's Note:**

> This piece was SUPPOSED to be short and pure comedy, and now... Now it is comedy and angst and fluff for both Valentine's and White Day. Enjoy a month of idiots in love.  
> Inspired by the Friends episode, [The One Where Everybody Finds Out](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUN2YN0bOi8)

**Wednesday, 31 March. Hammerlocke.**

The bookstore is tucked away in the twisting alleys of Hammerlocke’s historic district. Squeezed between a bakery and an off-beat arcade, the scent of fresh-baked bread follows Sonia as she makes a Combee-line for the entrance. A faded, hand-painted sign above the door is decorated with an illegible soft pink script.

“I didn’t even realize this bookstore was here!” She looks back over her shoulder to where Raihan is trailing behind, taking photos of the winding stone pathways. They’d told Sonia they wanted artsy photos for their Pokégram. She’d easily agreed to come with them – Hammerlocke’s historic district is always lovely to walk around in, and she needed a break from the lab.

“I think I must’ve walked past it a thousand times! I keep meaning to go in,” Raihan says with a laugh.

It’s a used bookshop, with soft lights and worn, creased covers decorating the cheerful window display. The hand-drawn “open” sign on the door is old, the ink fading on the child’s drawing of an Altaria beside the elegant script. Raihan frowns at the sign, but follows Sonia inside.

Sonia breathes in deep as they enter the shop, the smell of paper and an underlying layer of dust making her smile. The place feels cozy. It’s well-lit from soft lamps with colorful shades throughout the shop. Floor-to-ceiling shelves ring the room. Books are wedged in and tucked into any available space. Sonia can see a few stacks of tomes that reach as tall as she is leaning precariously against the shelves. There is an open doorway to her left through which Sonia can see still more stacks and shelves of books. Scattered throughout the shop are armchairs and stained-glass reading lamps. There is a round counter in the center of the main room. The shopkeeper is seated facing the door, scribbling in a large leather-bound tome as they step inside.

The man looks up as they enter, recognition crossing his face when he sees Sonia’s bright smile. He’s older than them, maybe in his early fifties, with dark hair streaked with silver. Round glasses with thin wire frames make his brown eyes look slightly larger than they are. The creases around his eyes are laugh lines, but he has an air of sadness to him that gives Sonia pause. He adjusts the collar of his navy button-down.

“Welcome in, Professor Sonia! I don’t think I’ve had the honor of seeing you in Sharit’s Books before?” He smiles cheerily, and the air of sadness is gone.

“Not until today, I’m afraid!” Sonia shakes her head. “We were hoping you might have something on the history of Hammerlocke here?”

“‘We’?” The shopkeeper raises an eyebrow as Raihan enters the shop behind her. The shopkeeper glances at them, and the smile slips from his face. His eyes widen and his mouth falls open slightly.

Sonia turns to Raihan only to find them with a similar stunned expression on their face. They’re tense, their back rigidly straight in a way she’s never seen before.

“…Dad?”

The word is barely even a whisper, but in the silence of the shop Raihan could very well have been shouting.

Sonia turns back to the shopkeeper. She looks back to Raihan, and back to the shopkeeper again, already noting similarities in her head.

 _Their eyes are the same shape; same nose, same roundness to their face; dad’s hair is greying, wavy not kinky, but the same deep black colour_ …

She shakes her head and looks at Raihan. They haven’t moved, still standing in the doorway with their hand gripping tight to the door like it’s a lifeline. Sonia watches the way their hand trembles, and the way they swallow thickly and blink away the tears glimmering in their eyes.

“Raihan, you didn’t tell me your dad owned a bookshop!” Her words break through the tension, and they both turn towards her. Raihan steps more fully into the shop and shoves their hands in their hoodie pockets, letting the door close softly behind them.

“I didn’t know either, we haven’t seen each other in years! Small world, huh,” they trail off weakly. They’re facing Sonia but looking at their father, hesitating like they want to speak with him but don’t quite know how to begin. Sonia looks at the shopkeeper and tilts her head.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you! I guess we can see where Raihan got those good looks from, mister…?” She steps forward and extends a hand.

The shopkeeper blinks at her. He looks down at her hand and back up to her face and breaks out into his cheery smile again. “Inayat, no need for the title for me, Professor.” He shakes her hand. “And Raihan certainly got his looks from his mother, he,” Inayat pauses a moment and looks back at Raihan. “He looks just like her.”

She smiles. “Well, then, it’s just ‘Sonia’ for me, as well.” They release each other’s hands, and an awkward silence falls between the three.

Sonia glances up at Raihan. They look disconcerted in a way she’s never seen them before. They’ve never mentioned their father that she can recall, and they’d said they hadn’t seen each other in years. She thinks back to the few years that she and Leon had barely spoken, how awkward it was between them until they put in the conscious effort to see each other more.

She can only imagine how that would feel with a parent.

She wonders what caused them to stop talking – did Raihan get busy with the gym, and Inayat with his shop? Did they merely drift apart? Or was there something deeper to that story?

Sonia looks at Raihan, avoiding their father’s gaze, and reminds herself that if Raihan hasn’t shared that with her, then it’s not her business. She can, however, give them some privacy to speak with their father without her presence making the reunion more difficult. “You wouldn’t happen to have a section on Hammerlocke history here, would you, Inayat?

He looks back over to her, seemingly startled by her abrupt question. “Y-yes, they’re just in that room over there.” He points behind her to the room with the armchairs. “Feel free to browse the shelves, there’s quite a lot there. Rich history, Hammerlocke.”

“I’ll let you two chat.” Sonia smiles. She reaches out and touches Raihan’s elbow with a gentle hand. They turn towards her, startled by the soft touch. “Take all the time you need,” she murmurs. “I’ll just be in the other room.”

They nod, brows scrunched together and already looking back towards Inayat.

Sonia wanders into the room and scans the shelves, quickly finding the history books she’s looking for. There’s quite a lot of them on the shelf, and she hums to herself as she runs a finger along the worn spines.

_Royal Dragons: A History of Dragon Taming in the Hammerlocke Nobility_

_Industrialism in Hammerlocke and Motostoke and the Shaping of the Galar Region_

_Walls of Stone: A Study of Hammerlocke Castle’s Defensive Architecture_

Soft voices can be heard in the other room, and Sonia smiles. Good, they’re talking. She’ll let them be for a bit.

She continues to peruse the shelves, gathering a small stack of books in her arms. When her stack numbers eight books, she pauses and glances out at the pair. Raihan has their hand on the back of their neck, still avoiding Inayat’s gaze, and Inayat is beaming at Raihan. They’ve gone quiet, so she steps out into the main area of the shop.

Inayat glances up at her as she sets her stack on the counter with a soft _thunk_. “Ah, Sonia, we were just talking about you!”

She quirks an eyebrow at the bookseller. “Oh? All good things I hope!”

Inayat laughs. “Of course! So, how long have you and Raihan been dating?”

Sonia freezes.

_…Dating?_

She turns on her heel to look at Raihan. They won’t meet her gaze.

“I…” She starts to speak, then stops. She licks her lips. “I, uh…”

“Just a few days, it’s still pretty new.” Raihan laughs nervously and fiddles with their hoodie pockets. They shift their weight from side to side, never quite settling. “Trying to enjoy it before the press gets wind, y’know?”

Inayat smiles. “Being so well-known must be tough, huh? Your mother was so good at dealing with that spotlight, but she always kept the two of us out of it.”

Raihan’s shoulders tense at the mention of their mother.

Sonia fishes in her pocket for her Rotom Phone and gasps loudly at the screen. “Oh, is that the time?” Her voice is loud, louder than it should be, and she forces herself to speak quieter. “Raihan, we have that – that – luncheon – thing, we have to get to.”

Raihan turns to her, and their shoulders relax at the excuse. “That’s right! We should get going. Here, I’ll pay for these – ”

“Oh, it’s no trouble, really – ” Inayat starts to say, only to be cut off by Raihan laying the Pokédollars on the counter.

“It’s fine,” they say, steely voice a stark counterpoint to their bright smile. “We’re still customers, we’ll pay for them.”

The exchange is tense; Sonia can practically feel the static in the air between the two. Inayat hands her the bag of books with a smile, but his underlying sadness is back. She looks at Raihan, and they’ve already turned towards the door. She reaches out and takes their hand, and they stop and look at her.

“We have to dash now,” she says, looking at Inayat. “But maybe we could all grab lunch soon? You two could catch up properly.”

Inayat leans back in his chair and his smile crinkles his eyes. “That would be lovely, if you’re free, of course, Han.”

Raihan looks at Inayat. For a long moment, they’re quiet. “I’d like that,” they finally whisper.

Inayat beams back at them.

Raihan turns to the door, tugging Sonia along by the tight grip they have on her hand. They try to release her after they exit the shop, but she squeezes their hand tighter.

“‘Dating’?” She hisses, turning to them with a sharp glare. “Since when are we dating?!”

Raihan winces. “I’m sorry! He was asking all these questions and I… we haven’t so much as seen each other for thirteen years, Sonia!” They stop walking. Sonia turns mid-stride to face them. She releases their hand, and they lift it to rub at their arm. “We had this huge row. He told me, under no uncertain terms, that I was not allowed to go on the Gym Challenge... I went anyways. We haven’t spoken since.”

Sonia bites her lip. She tugs at the hem of her coat. “…Oh. I… I didn’t know. I’m sorry, Rai.”

They laugh, a hollow, self-deprecating sound that barely covers the half-formed sob in their throat. “S’not your fault. You didn’t know.” They sniff and lift a hand to scrub at their eyes. “Anyways. He was asking all these questions about how I’ve been and what I’ve been up to, and I kept thinking over and over about why was he suddenly so interested in the life he told me not to pursue. And then he asked if you were my girlfriend and I didn’t even think, I barely even heard the question, I just said yes.”

They look down at their shoes. “I’m sorry, Sonia. I really wish I hadn’t.”

“If wishes were Mudsdales, beggars would ride,” Sonia says softly. She sighs. “Well, we’ll just have to fix it. You’re going to see him again for lunch soon, right?

Raihan winces. “I s’pose I am.” They scuff their toe along the cobblestone street, kicking at the edge of one of the stones.

“Well, you can see him then, have some time to talk to him. He probably misses you, Rai. Thirteen years is a long time. Maybe he wants to make up after that fight, finally.”

“Maybe,” Raihan mumbles. They continue kicking at the stone.

“And,” Sonia adds, stepping to their side and linking their arms. The pair falls into step together, continuing down the road. “You can tell him we’ve split up and aren’t dating anymore.”

“I have to do it alone?”

“You got us into this mess, _you_ can get us out!”

* * *

**Thursday, 1 April. Hulbury.**

The café is busy this time of day. Students from the local university hover about between classes, the air buzzing with noise. Plates clatter and cups clink loudly. Peals of laughter ring through the crowded space. Sonia is quite glad for the noise – it means less people have a chance to hear the stupendously stupid idea her girlfriend and Raihan are pitching to her.

“There is absolutely no way that plan would work. Not in a million years.” Sonia rolls her eyes and flicks her ponytail over her shoulder. When she looks up, Nessa and Raihan are exchanging a knowing glance.

“What?” Sonia snorts and stabs Nessa’s cake with her fork. Nessa doesn’t even protest anymore – they know it’s a losing battle. “You know I’m right, that’s a completely stupid plan.”

“What’s so stupid about it?” Raihan is looking at her with their Yamper-eyes. Ugh. They know she can’t resist those. “My dad and I get more time to reconnect, I get a chance to come out to him without him finding out from some shite tabloid, plus Nessa gets the space they need to come out to their parents. Everybody wins.”

“Except me,” Sonia protests, waving her fork in the air. “I have to pretend to date you – while watching you pine over Leon, mind – while keeping my own relationship under wraps!”

“This doesn’t have to be long-term,” Nessa says, their voice calm and soothing. “Only long enough to give me time to come out to my parents, and Raihan enough time to figure out things with their dad.”

“Yeah, it’s gonna be weird enough to try and reconnect with him without making things awkward by leading off with a breakup.” Raihan wrinkles their nose. “At least give us a chance to have a real conversation first.”

Sonia sighs, exasperated. “I get that, really I do. But how does you and me pretending to date not over-complicate all of this?”

Nessa and Raihan turn to each other and wince. Sonia hopes it’s because they’re realizing how bonkers this plan of theirs is.

“You’d break up before you and I go public proper, Sonia,” Nessa says.

Sonia leans back and groans. “But why not just say you’re single? Or that we already broke up? Why isn’t that the obvious path?”

“Because of this.” Raihan passes their phone over to her. The screen displays an article from some celebrity gossip rag.

The main photograph is a close-up of Nessa at an outdoor café in Hulbury. She’s laughing, and Sonia recognizes the setting: it’s from the date they went on a week prior. They’d been to an exhibition match between Milo and Kabu at Motostoke, then walked back to Nessa’s Hulbury flat. They’d stopped off at the café on their way and shared a slice of cake. Nessa had flicked frosting onto Sonia’s cheek, then laughed as she leaned forward to wipe it off with her thumb.

Sonia smiles warmly at the memory. She’s not visible in the photograph, but the softness of Nessa’s smile is, and the love in their eyes is apparent. The warmth is short-lived, however, as Raihan leans in to scroll up to show her the title of the article.

**GYM LEADER NESSA SPOTTED ON A DATE… WITH A WOMAN?!? IS THE WATER GYM LEADER FINALLY COMING OUT OF THE CLOSET?!?**

“They don’t name you in the article,” Raihan is saying, and Sonia can hardly hear them over the rushing in her ears. “I think they only got the one photo, they go into a load of speculation about who Nessa was out with. But they hint at it being you a fair amount.”

There is a light touch to her hand, and Sonia jumps. Her head snaps up to meet Nessa’s eyes.

“We can find another way if you’d prefer. But the fact of the matter is that I’m not out to my parents yet. If the media does that for me, it’s going to make it that much harder to have this conversation with them.” Their voice is soft, and their thumb is stroking lightly along the side of Sonia’s fingers. As soothing as the action is, their eyes betray their worry.

“If you two go public about ‘dating’ for a bit,” Nessa continues, “that brings attention off this speculation. It makes things less awkward with Raihan and their dad, since they aren’t opening with you two breaking up. And it gives both Raihan and me plenty of time to talk to our parents. The media will eat up you two dating, even if it’s fake. We talk to our parents, you break up in public, and everyone moves on.”

Nessa smiles and squeezes Sonia’s hand. Sonia carefully shifts her hand up to press their palms together. Their fingers link together easily.

“…Okay. I’ll do it.” There’s another squeeze to her hand, and Sonia squeezes back. “But only short-term! Which means you two need to prioritize talking to your parents!”

Nessa smiles and nods, their eyes crinkling and full of warmth.

* * *

**Friday, 2 April. Spikemuth.**

“What a stupid fuckin’ plan.”

“We didn’t ask you, Piers!” Nessa sing-songs the words, purposely off-key to the notes Piers is picking out on his guitar. He hits a sour note and glares at Nessa. They cheerily stick their tongue out in response.

Sonia sighs. “Can we please focus? We need to get this planned out if we’re really starting tomorrow.”

“Aww, it’ll be fine, Sonia!” Raihan grins and leans a hand heavily on her shoulder. “We’ll have a fun date, don’t you worry.”

“Uh huh.” Sonia gives Raihan her best thoroughly unimpressed look and glances up at Nessa, who is doing their best to stifle their laughter at Raihan’s statement.

Nessa raises an eyebrow at Raihan, lips still twitching with laughter. “Raihan, when was the last time you took _anyone_ out on a date?”

Sonia watches with a sly grin as Raihan splutters their protests.

“I… that’s… Okay, so it’s been a while, I still know how to plan a fun date. And it’s not for lack of trying!”

“He still not picking up on all your hints?” Sonia’s tone is sympathetic, but she’s hiding her giggles behind her hand.

Raihan groans and finally leans away from Sonia, slumping in their chair instead. “I have done absolutely everything, short of flat out telling Leon that I’m in love with him.”

“Have you tried flat out telling Leon that you’re in love with him?” Nessa deadpans. Raihan glares at them, and they duck down to stifle their giggles into their hand.

“ _That,_ ” Raihan says, pointing at Nessa, “is more terrifying than any outraging dragon.”

“It really shouldn’t be,” Nessa says, leaning forward to rest their chin on their hand. “He’s dense, but Leon is head over heels in love with you, everyone can see it.” Raihan doesn’t look convinced.

“Hey, speaking of Leon, should we tell him about all this, d’you think?” Sonia twists the end of her ponytail with a long, manicured finger. “You two aren’t together – _yet_ ,” she adds, poking a finger into Raihan’s side to stop their pouting. “But he’s the chairman, he’s probably a good bet to help us out with this charade.”

“He gets very involved in the gym leader PR, too,” Nessa adds.

Raihan sighs. “He also stresses out about it, a lot. Remember last year, when Gordie went out with that bird for two months and the press was all over them? She couldn’t deal with the media attention. Leon blamed himself for not doing more, for not preventing the media from breaking them up. And that was in the off season.” They cross their arms and look at Nessa. “The gym challenge is ramping up, which means semi-finals are coming up, which Leon has to help organize. I should actually be facing challengers this month.”

“Oh, that’s right, that’s gonna affect our ‘date’ schedule.” Sonia hums in thought. She shuffles her notes around to look at the large calendar page they’ve laid out on the kitchen table. “Piers, what do you think? Tell Leon, or no?”

“Thought you lot weren’t asking me,” Piers snarks. At Sonia’s glare, he rolls his eyes. “I want fuck all to do with this. Count me out.”

“I don’t wanna stress Leon out,” Raihan says, tone firm. “Besides, that’s one less person who knows about all this, and therefore one less person to complicate it all.”

Piers looks up from his guitar and places his hand on his chest, the picture of drama. “Oh, but you’ll involve me?” He scoffs. “Take over my flat, my kitchen table…”

Raihan smirks. “You love helping us out. You love this sort of drama.” They wink at Piers, and he rolls his eyes.

“Uh huh. Sure.” The guitar is settled securely in Piers’ lap as he reaches for his phone and taps on the screen.

Nessa hums. “We could tell Leon _after_ everything is all said and done. One less person to worry about while we’re in the thick of this, and I’m sure he’d understand.”

“That’s fair,” Sonia says. “So no Leon. As for tomorrow’s date; we’ll be at the café for, what, thirty, forty minutes? We grab some coffee, a snack, chat a bit.”

Raihan nods. “Then to the boutique. I can buy you a shirt or something. Pay you back for helping us,” they add with a grateful smile.

“Aww, thanks!” Sonia smiles and scribbles the notes down. “Alright. Café. Boutique. What’s next?”

Nessa leans forward, braids brushing the table as they look over Sonia’s notes. “Could go to Raihan’s flat. That could be a bit far for a fresh relationship, though.”

“We also already know each other,” Raihan says. “It’s pretty normal for us to be at each other’s homes as it is.”

Sonia taps her pen on her lips, humming in thought. She stares at her notes. “Piers,” she says, and Piers groans in response. “What do you think? Too strong, or fine with the prior friendship context?”

Piers keeps his eyes trained on his phone. “I told you lot, I want fuck all to do with this. This plan is bloody stupid.”

“Well, then,” Raihan says, turning in his chair to pout at Piers. “Thanks for all the support, mate. We feel so loved and supported over here.”

Piers looks up with an overly fake smile. “You’re welcome,” he sings, and returns his attention to his phone. 

Sonia narrows her eyes at the singer; she wonders who he’s texting so furiously. Still, she has other matters to worry about. She turns back to their date plans.

* * *

**Saturday, 3 April. Train from Wedgehurst to Hammerlocke.**

That Saturday morning dawns dark and gloomy, rain clouds darkening the skies above Wedgehurst. Sonia looks out the train window at the Wild Area as it zooms by, twirling a compact umbrella in her hands. A quick check of her phone states that Hammerlocke is, indeed, expecting rain today.

Sonia eyes the storm clouds and switches to her messaging app. She taps on Raihan’s name.

_Any chance of you using Sunny Day to fix up the weather before I get there? << _

She’s barely set down the phone and resumed her morose nature watch when the phone buzzes, loud and obnoxious, on the table.

_ >> Would if I could! _

_ >> Not supposed to rain here anyways _

_ >> It’s staying in the dusty bkwl _

_ >> **bowl _

_ >> It only makes a micro-climate anyway _

_ >> And it’s short-lived enough we’d just get the downpour back when we least expect it _

Sonia smiles. Her mind is already whirling with ideas about Dynamax storms and ability-induced micro-climates.

_See now we’re gonna have to collaborate on some weather research << _

_I have some Theories forming_ 👀 _ <<_

_ >> Oh?? _

_ >> Care to share with the class? _

_lol I’ll tell you if you buy me a coffee! << _

_ >> _👍👍

_ >> Text me when ur train is pulling in _

* * *

**Saturday, 3 April. Hammerlocke.**

Sonia shows up second to the café, as planned. Raihan is waiting for her there, her favourite coffee and a pastry ready on a pale pink plate. They’re sitting at one of the iron-wrought tables outside, fiddling with their phone.

“I thought the weather report said rain?”

They look up at her with an easy smile. “It never quite hit the city. ‘Sides that, if we do get caught in the rain, it’s only a little water.”

Sonia laughs and plops herself down into the chair opposite Raihan. They’re finally out of the gym uniform, she notices, instead pairing their usual hoodie with black slacks. Their locs hang freely, framing their face without the headband to push them back.

Sonia leans forward and sets her phone and umbrella on the tabletop. She wraps her chilly fingers around the steaming mug. “Thank you,” she mumbles, lifting the mug to take a long sip.

Raihan laces their fingers together and leans forward on their elbows. They grin, wide so as to show off sharp canines. “So what’s this theory of yours?”

Sonia’s eyes sparkle. “Oh, it’s actually quite interesting! You’d mentioned how the weather moves your Pokémon use create micro-climates.” She sets the mug down and pulls out her phone, already tapping on the screen to pull up data. “Well, Hop and I have been taking data from Dynamax dens to figure out more about the Dynamax storms themselves. It’s the same thing, but rather than created by a Pokémon’s ability, it’s the Galar particles. The storm itself is a byproduct of the reaction between the Pokémon and the particles.”

As she leans over the table to show Raihan the data, she pushes the table off balance. The plates clatter loudly against the metal table as the coffee mugs tip and splash onto Raihan’s arm.

“ _Geez_ that’s hot!”

“Oh shit, I’m so sorry!”

Sonia grabs at the stack of napkins that has gone flying and blots at the growing stain on Raihan’s sleeve. They unzip their jacket and rip their arm out of the sleeve, and she holds the napkins out to them.

“Gosh, I’m so sorry, Rai!”

He waves off her apology, taking the napkins and wincing as they clean up their arm. “It’s fine, it was an accident. I’m not hurt. We can clean it up easy.”

A large drop of water hits the metal tabletop, cutting their conversation short. Then another. A third hits Sonia’s cheek.

A chunk of ice hits the table and shatters. Sonia and Raihan both jump as ice shards skitter across the metal surface. Another hailstone smacks into the cobblestone path nearby the table.

“Let’s get inside,” Raihan advises as they stand. Sonia nods, and the pair scoop up their dishes and salvage what they can of the pastries.

The rain hits hard then, sending a shock of cold water over Sonia as they run to the awning over the door. A glance down the street reveals a few other unlucky pedestrians doing the same, darting into doorframes and huddling under overhangs to wait out the sudden storm.

“The weather report said the rain was supposed to skip us,” Raihan says mildly. Sonia glares up at them, shivering in her already-soaked jacket.

“Yeah?” She raises an eyebrow. “Well, they were very very wrong.” She peels off the corduroy jacket and squeezes it. Water pools on the ground below the coat, and she groans. They’d only been in the rain for a moment.

“C’mon, let’s pop inside. At least it’s warmer in there.” Raihan holds the door open for her with an apologetic smile.

The café is busy, but not overly crowded. Raihan heads to the counter to return their dishes and get them fresh drinks. Sonia is left shivering by the doorway.

The air in the café is warm, steaming up the window. The hail thunders against the roof, rattling the glass and shaking water tracks along the outside of the windows. Sonia follows one drop’s trail with an absent gaze, holding her damp coat in front of her.

“You cold?”

She looks up at Raihan. They’re holding a pair of disposable cups, one offered to her and the other clutched close to their chest. She smiles.

“Yeah, my coat wasn’t really rain-proof.” She folds the offending garment over one arm and takes the hot cup, relishing the heat that soaks into her fingers. The sudden temperature change makes a shiver run through her spine.

Raihan hums, then passes her their own cup. “Hold, please.” Sonia takes the cup and furrows her brow as Raihan unzips their jacket. They stick their hands in the pockets and hold it open to her with a wink. “This is supposed to be a date, right? One jacket between us, we can share.”

Sonia raises an eyebrow. “Is that thing big enough for the both of us?” She gives the jacket a once-over. It’s baggy on Raihan, but by design, and mostly in the shoulders. The lower waistband is elastic and usually fits around their hips without a lot of slack in the fabric.

“It’ll be fine! C’mon, it’ll stretch.”

Sonia rolls her eyes but steps closer, huddling into Raihan’s chest. This is supposed to be a date, she reminds herself. They won’t sell it if they don’t do couple-y things.

Raihan turns her, hands still in their jacket pockets, so that they’re facing the same direction. They wrap the jacket around her and remove their hands from the pockets to fidget with the zipper. After zipping the jacket up (and it is a snug fit, but Raihan’s right, the waistband stretches nicely), they take their coffee cup from Sonia.

Sonia is left enveloped in the warmth from Raihan, the jacket, and the coffee. It’s a little awkward – her arms are pinned underneath the hoodie, her jacket is soaking water into her jeans, and she can’t drink her coffee – but she’s definitely no longer shivering. She tells herself that the warmth is responsible for the flush in her cheeks, that it certainly has nothing to do with the looks they’re garnering from the other guests in the café. Raihan is easily recognizable, from their height and the fact the café is in Hammerlocke, but Sonia notices a few scowls thrown her way.

She ignores the looks as best she can. It’s easier when Raihan wraps their arms around her and leans their head down to whisper in her ear.

“I think it’s working.” Their voice is low, easily covered by the buzz of chatter in the room. “Based on the jealous looks we’re getting, I’d say we’re passing for a couple quite well.”

Outside the café, the storm blusters about. As suddenly as the hail had arrived, it stops. The wind still rages, however, and raindrops still rattle the café windows.

Sonia cranes her neck up to look at Raihan. “What do you think? Bump up the plan and brave the rain?”

“Sure! I don’t fancy getting stuck in here the rest of the day, anyhow.” They unzip the jacket, and Sonia slips her hand into Raihan’s as they exit the café.

“Boutique then?” She grins up at them, opening her umbrella while they’re under the awning. “You can buy me a jacket, since mine is soaked.” Raihan takes the umbrella from her and holds it over the pair.

They meander down the path, fingers laced together between them. The wind is sharp, and Sonia shivers at the chill it brings. Raihan holds the umbrella at an angle to account for the wind, raindrops drumming on the nylon surface.

A sudden gust of harsher wind blows harder down the street. The strong gust overpowers Sonia’s cheap umbrella, and it folds in on itself. Sonia turns at Raihan’s yelp to see the umbrella closing around their head.

“You’ve _got_ to be kidding me.” They roll their eyes and try to open the umbrella again. The metal is caught in their locs, and they wince at the tug. Rain continues to pour down and the wind is blowing the now slack fabric about.

“Here, crouch down here and I’ll untangle you.” Sonia reaches up on tiptoes to untangle the metal joints ever-so-carefully from Raihan’s hair. They stoop down, and together they get the umbrella loose. Sonia opens it up fully again and double-checks the safety catch.

Raihan smiles down at her. “Thanks.”

“No problem!” She grins back up at them and they stand for a moment. “Shall we continue on? That did look pretty romantic, by the way, too bad there isn’t any paparazzi about,” she teases.

No sooner have the words left her mouth than the hail returns. Ice thunders against the umbrella, hard enough to rip through the cheap plasticky material.

Sonia shrieks in surprise and jumps backwards, directly into the ice-ridden downpour. Her arms come up to shield her head as Raihan ditches the umbrella to do the same, tugging their hood up. The wind catches the umbrella and they watch as it tumbles down the street, shredding more and more in the sudden hailstorm.

Raihan sighs. “My place?”

* * *

**Saturday, 3 April. Wedgehurst.**

“I don’t think it was all that bad, Sonia.”

Sonia groans. “It was awful, Ness! Just one disaster after another.” She curls tighter into her cocoon of blankets.

They’re curled up under a massive pile of blankets on Sonia’s bed. The lamp is off, the only light in the room the glow from the silvery moon outside. The view of the damp garden outside the window glistens in the moonlight.

Nessa chuckles and holds her close. “It’ll be alright, love.”

Sonia trains her gaze on the wall. Photos litter the wall, group snapshots of Sonia and her friends as they grew up. Her eyes linger on one of Nessa holding their little sister, Leah, on their back, nearly toppling over from the weight of the then-eight-year-old. “I’m sorry.”

“What do you have to be sorry for?” Nessa is looking down at her with confusion. “If anything, I should be apologising to you.”

“What?” Sonia sits up, tossing blankets off of her shoulder. “No way, this was supposed to help give you time to talk to your parents. We’ve completely mucked that up.”

“But if I had talked to my parents a year ago like I said I would…” Nessa trails off, looking down at their lap. Sonia reaches out and takes their hand in hers.

“Hey.” When Nessa looks up, she leans forward and presses a soft kiss to Nessa’s lips. “None of that. You have nothing to apologise for. We’ll just… try again, if needed.” She smiles at Nessa and squeezes their hand.

Nessa squeezes back. “Thank you,” they whisper. They pull the blankets back up over Sonia’s shoulders and tug her back down to the bed.  
  


* * *

**GALAR’S HOTTEST NEW COUPLE: PROFESSOR SONIA AND GYM LEADER RAIHAN GO PUBLIC WITH DATE IN HAMMERLOCKE’S HISTORIC DISTRICT** ****

_Not even a hailstorm could keep these lovers down! Hammerlocke’s most eligible bachelor isn’t so eligible anymore. The Gym Leader was spotted on a rainy-day date yesterday, complete with a romantic walk in the rain and an intimate moment shared under an umbrella._

_The lucky lady is none other than the youngest new Pokémon Professor from Wedgehurst, Sonia. The lovebirds shared Raihan’s jacket at a coffee shop before meandering down the picturesque cobblestone streets of Hammerlocke. The sweethearts eventually disappeared into the tower of_ _Hammerlocke Vault – likely seeking some alone time!!_

_This isn’t the first time the pair have been out and about together. Raihan secured the top dedication in Sonia’s tell-all book about Galar’s true history, and the gym leader joined her for the press tour, speaking as the Head Curator of Hammerlocke Vault. Is it possible that their friendship bloomed in the archives into something more?_

* * *

**Sunday, 4 April. Wedgehurst.**

They’ve pulled it off.

Sonia’s phone is abuzz with messages and notifications. The moment she swipes one away, another comes rolling in to take its place – texts, tags from social media (Raihan did tell her to mute her notifications), suggested articles to read, as well as her usual work-related messages have her phone consistently buzzing. She sets her phone to silent and attempts to navigate them.

She swiftly gives up on the notifications, hitting “clear all” and instead opening her messaging app. She pointedly ignores the messages from school friends and from the majority of the gym leaders – those can be read and responded to later. There’s a few from Raihan, one all-caps “THANK YOU, BABE, YOU DID IT” from Nessa, several in their group chat they’d set up for this, and one from Leon.

Leon, who doesn’t know that this is all a farce.

Shit.

Sonia opens the conversation with Leon and stares at the message he’d sent her.

 _ >> Congrats, Sonia! I’m so happy for you and Rai _❤️

She looks at the message for a long time, ignoring the vibrations of her phone in her hand. She hadn’t even thought about how Leon would find out about this, too caught up in the planning and secrecy of the whole affair.

A message preview displays at the top of her screen from Piers. She taps on it.

_ >> congrats on making the cover of the trashiest gossip rag in Galar _

_ >> hope ur ready for them to turn on u _

Sonia rolls her eyes.

_At least the plan is working out! << _

She navigates back to the conversation with Leon and bites her lip. She types and erases a few drafts of a thank you reply, uncertain how to navigate the conversation. She doesn’t want to hurt Leon, though it seems the lot of them have already buggered that up.

Another text pops up from Piers. She opens it to see a .GIF of Marcia Brady saying, “Sure, Jan.” She snorts and locks the phone.

She sets the phone aside and gets ready for her day. She’ll reply to Leon later, check in with him and see how he’s doing. She looks out the window at the damp garden. In the nearby fields, a farmer is herding a flock of Wooloo to a fresh patch of dewy grass.

She knows, when she reaches Motostoke for her meeting with Kabu, there will be people whispering about her and Raihan. She’ll need to stay focused on the Power Spot there. She can manage the whispers – better a temporary relationship drama than the scandal of Nessa or Raihan being outed by the media. For now, though, she relishes the peace and calm of Wedgehurst, enjoying it while she can.

“Okay,” she breathes out, fogging up the chilly glass. “Maybe this will work out after all.”

* * *

**Friday, 9 April. Spikemuth.**

“Wait, they’re _what_?”

“I know, it’s so stupid.” Piers rolls his eyes. “Fake dating. To throw the media off Nessa and Sonia so that Nessa has time to come out to their parents, and Raihan can reconnect with their dad.”

He watches Leon carefully as he mulls over this news, allowing the loud band playing to fade into background noise. It’s been a week since Raihan and Sonia’s fake date. Leon had spent the past several years terrified of buggering up his friendship with Raihan. It’s had him keeping his romantic feelings for his best friend quiet, even when each of their friends insist that Raihan definitely feels the same way.

Piers had brought Leon to their favourite grimy Spikemuth pub in part to tell him about their friends’ latest idiocy, and in part to check in on the Chairman. Noble though Raihan’s intentions had been, Piers knew this would still hurt Leon.

“That…” Leon is staring at his stout, his hand clinging tight to the glass. He blinks and looks up at Piers. “I mean, it does sort of make sense.”

Piers raises an eyebrow. “Does it really?” He chuckles and takes a sip of his own beer. “Blimey, you really do belong with Raihan…”

“Hm?” Leon looks at him, puzzled. Piers can practically see the question mark forming over his head.

He waves a hand in the air. “Nothing, never mind… Anyway.” He fixes Leon with a sharp look. “You should know. They didn’t tell you specifically because they were worried about you.”

“Worried about me? Why?” Leon’s brow furrows.

Piers nods. “There’s a lot goin’ on in the League about now. You,” he pokes Leon’s shoulder, “have to run it all. They didn’t want to stress you out.”

Leon rolls his eyes. “It actually would have _saved_ me a load of stress had they simply told me.”

“Which leads me to the point of all this.” Piers smirks. “They’re tryin’ to fool the whole region into thinking that they’re together. You and I are the only ones who know – but they don’t know that you know.”

Piers pauses a moment and watches Leon parse out his meaning. When the lightbulb clicks, Leon turns to face Piers with wide eyes and an open mouth, pointing at him. Piers grins.

“They’re messing with everyone, we mess with them right back!”

“Exactly!” Piers picks up his glass and swirls the foaming golden ale. “They missed out on getting our help. Since they instead chose to go the route that hurts feelings all ‘round, we are gonna play it all up. And by ‘we’, I mean ‘you’.”

Leon leans an elbow on the counter. “What are you thinking?”

Piers grins. “Go completely over the top. Get really weepy with it, fake a phone call and leave when it gets brought up. Go out to lunch with them and make Yamper-eyes at Raihan the whole time. Ask them about how they knew they were in love or whatever, make ‘em come up with some bullshit on the spot.” He drains his glass and pushes it towards the bartender with a nod of thanks. “And you getting upset is just phase one.”

Leon grins and picks up his glass. “What’s phase two?”

Piers smiles nonchalantly. “You all but confess to Raihan.”

“Wait, _what_?” Leon slams his glass down and swivels on his bar stool to face Piers fully again. “Isn’t that going a bit far? That could bugger up Raihan talking to their dad.”

Piers snickers. “I don’t mean encourage them to cheat. I mean, tell them you really care for them. You’re happy they’re happy. Play up the ‘I love you so I want you to do what makes you happy, even if it’s breaking me apart’ thing. I bet you anything they feel bad enough to come clean and confess right back.”

“I dunno…” Leon turns back to the bar and picks up his glass. “Feels like I’m sending them on a guilt trip.”

“Mate. They let you find out from a shite gossip rag. They did not tell you that your childhood best friend and the love of your life were not, in fact, actually dating. Tit for tat, I say. Besides,” he says with a grin. “If we _really_ wanted to be mean, you and I would fake date right back at them.”

Leon chokes and splutters into his glass. “No fake dating!" he croaks. Piers laughs as he thumps him on the back.

“So. Payback. You in?”

Leon coughs. He eyes his glass, and glances over at Piers. He looks back to his glass. “You know what?” He picks up the glass and drains the last of the stout. “I’m in.”

**Author's Note:**

> Inayat can be seen in [this lovely illustration by Gliding True on Twitter](https://twitter.com/GlidingTrue/status/1359093596310429703).
> 
> Shout-out to my beta [illusionremember](https://archiveofourown.org/users/illusionremember/pseuds/illusionremember), for helping me out with this!
> 
> A small note on the pronouns - Raihan uses he/they pronouns in this story. Their friends use "they" more so as to counterbalance the constant "he/him" usage by fans and media, since Raihan isn't publicly out as nonbinary yet. Nessa uses only they/them pronouns, but is not out yet. 
> 
> come hang out with me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/ShrapnelChan) and [tumblr](https://kiliofdurinsline.tumblr.com/)


End file.
